Which singular at-bat(s) from start to finish, have stuck with you over the years, and why? I'll go first. For me, it's Julio Franco and Chipper Jones

Mrs. Meta

Mrs. Meta

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Admittedly, kind of two opposite ends of the spectrum, in their importance, but I'll set the scene anyway for each:

Julio Franco versus Kyle Farnsworth - some regular season game against the Cubs at Turner field, I want to say Circa 2003 or 2004.

Julio Franco, that heavy bat of his wrapped around his head, like the condom wrapped around Enscheff on his wedding night, ready to strike. Dude fouls off Pitch after pitch, easily works Kyle Farnsworth pitch count into double digits. The crowd starts chanting for Julio, and eventually....? He hits one of his patented singles into right field.

And then, Chipper Jones, game 5 of the 2002 NLDS against Rob Nen and the San Francisco giants, also at Turner Field.

Ironically, I want to say that Julio Franco had just hit a single or double to right field to start / extend the rally that could have, and I would argue should have, put the San Francisco Giants away; that Bullpen could have won the World Series for us.

At any rate, I remember the at-bat being rather short, and Chipper Jones grounding into what I believe was a 3-6-3 season ending double play. I don't know where I read it years later, but I do know that chipper said that that was the one that bat in his career that he would want a do-over on.

As an aside, in his two post Seasons with us, I want to say that Gary Sheffield got a grand total of two hits. Although I'm still amazed we were able to get him for Brian Jordan and though Oh, Dallas!! Perez. Would have been great to just re-sign Sheffield instead of giving up Adam wainwright, but I digress.

But yeah, for better and for worse, what are some individual at-bats that have stuck in your mind's eye, with any degree of permanence, over the years?
 
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Jorge Soler to open the 2021 World Series.

I know he hit that iconic, still-hasn’t-landed, soul-crushing, make-Houston-lachrymose homer later, in the clinching Game Six. But it was that 2-0-count leadoff solo homer to open Game One—“first swing of the World Series,” as Joe Buck called it—that utterly shocked me into believing the Braves were, for once, on the right side of destiny.
 
jpx7 said:
Jorge Soler to open the 2021 World Series.

I know he hit that iconic, still-hasn’t-landed, soul-crushing, make-Houston-lachrymose homer later, in the clinching Game Six. But it was that 2-0-count leadoff solo homer to open Game One—“first swing of the World Series,” as Joe Buck called it—that utterly shocked me into believing the Braves were, for once, on the right side of destiny.
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Soler could re-sign with the Braves for a massive amount of money, anchor us down with below replacement level play for four years, and then trash the entire Braves organization and fan base on his way out, and you couldn’t make me hate him.
 
CyYoung31 said:
Soler could re-sign with the Braves for a massive amount of money, anchor us down with below replacement level play for four years, and then trash the entire Braves organization and fan base on his way out, and you couldn’t make me hate him.
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That PA convinced me right off the bat we were winning the whole thing. I’ve never had so much faith and happiness as a fan. It’s strange, but I truly felt the 2021 WS was a fait accompli after he hit that homer—I’ve never known such zen watching sports, and it was sublime. I still feel the frisson I felt in that moment when I watch replays.

I watched the remainder of the series with pure enjoyment, detached from the minutiae of individual results, because I simply knew that team was going to prevail. Indeed, this was me, every subsequent game:

IMG_4708.webp
 
jpx7 said:
That PA convinced me right off the bat we were winning the whole thing. I’ve never had so much faith and happiness as a fan. It’s strange, but I truly felt the 2021 WS was a fait accompli after he hit that homer—I’ve never known such zen watching sports, and it was sublime. I still feel the frisson I felt in that moment when I watch replays.

I watched the remainder of the series with pure enjoyment, detached from the minutiae of individual results, because I simply knew that team was going to prevail. Indeed, this was me, every subsequent game:

View attachment 530
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I never thought I could be gay over another man's vocabulary, but here we are. And while I know that I don't have the biggest vocabulary of my own, what I do have...? Is one hell of a dictionary.🥹🥹🥹🥹
 
jpx7 said:
That PA convinced me right off the bat we were winning the whole thing. I’ve never had so much faith and happiness as a fan. It’s strange, but I truly felt the 2021 WS was a fait accompli after he hit that homer—I’ve never known such zen watching sports, and it was sublime. I still feel the frisson I felt in that moment when I watch replays.

I watched the remainder of the series with pure enjoyment, detached from the minutiae of individual results, because I simply knew that team was going to prevail. Indeed, this was me, every subsequent game:

View attachment 530
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This. You just knew it was over when hit that over the train
 
CyYoung31 said:
Soler could re-sign with the Braves for a massive amount of money, anchor us down with below replacement level play for four years, and then trash the entire Braves organization and fan base on his way out, and you couldn’t make me hate him.
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I sincerely hope they induct him into the Braves HoF when he retires. He was that influential on the biggest stage.

I was eight years old in 1995, and barely remember that WS victory. So, for me, the 2021 WS got the monkey off my back—especially given that it redeemed the crushing defeat of 2020, when I firmly believed the Braves were the best team that season (while, in 2021, they obviously weren’t, but prevailed anyways).
 
The 2002 NLDS was when I finally stopped believing in the idea of a "team of destiny." Man, I loved that team. Couldn't hit at all outside the core of Sheffield, Chipper and Andruw, but they could pitch the hell out of the ball, and they just kept winning all year. If the bats were silent, they'd throw a shutout. If the pitching struggled, the offense would have a rare great night. That group seemed blessed.

And then that freaking ninth inning against the Giants. Furcal and Franco get on base to lead it off, you have Sheffield-Chipper-Andruw due up, OK, it's going to happen again. Then Sheffield swings through the hangiest slider Robb Nen has ever thrown, and Chipper grounds into the season-ending double play. 23 years later and I still think about that inning.
 
jpx7 said:
That PA convinced me right off the bat we were winning the whole thing. I’ve never had so much faith and happiness as a fan. It’s strange, but I truly felt the 2021 WS was a fait accompli after he hit that homer—I’ve never known such zen watching sports, and it was sublime. I still feel the frisson I felt in that moment when I watch replays.

I watched the remainder of the series with pure enjoyment, detached from the minutiae of individual results, because I simply knew that team was going to prevail. Indeed, this was me, every subsequent game:

View attachment 530
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Felt the same away until we lost the Duvall grand slam game.
 
jpx7 said:
I still felt good after that game. I suppose an egg in Game Six might’ve shaken me back into anxiety—but Soler was there again.
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The Soler homerun in game 1 was the “wait this might happen” moment

The Soler homerun in game 4 was the “it’s actually happening” moment

The Soler homerun in game 6 was the “holy crap it’s ACTUALLY gonna happen” moment

I need to get each of those swings picture framed and hang them in my office. Such a great week
 
Carp said:
There a few moments in baseball history in which you could literally see and feel the momentum shift in a series. This is one of those moments. Neither the Dodgers, nor the Astros had a chance after that.
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Matzek is my favorite Braves reliever ever just because of that moment alone. He was never the same after going all out that post season. I hope the team takes care of him in retirement by giving him a nice salary to “consult” for the team.
 
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